Rag wreath for a primitive bedroom

If you know me well, you know that I don't usually decorate in the primitive style. Nothing against it, but it just doesn't go with the decorations I've accumulated over the years. But when we moved to a home that had a bedroom wallpapered in a gorgeous primitive style, I decided to capitalize on the theme. After all, we had sold almost all of our decorations when we moved from the last house, so I almost had to start from scratch anyway.

Here's the catch: It was my 12-year-old son's room. Hmm ... How do you make the primitive style look good for a boy that age? Fortunately for me, my son isn't into cartoon themes and such. I ran the idea past a friend that decorates a good bit in primitive style, and she advised me to capitalize on the blue stars in the wallpaper. I created a board on Pinterest, filled it with ideas, and then showed it to my son. He liked it, so that's what we went with.

My very first project was a rag wreath. I found the tutorial on Pinterest, but I really did my own thing once I saw the basics of how it was done. I didn't want to have to spend money needlessly, so I used an old metal coat hanger as the base. I was afraid my wreath wouldn't be very full since I wasn't using the kind that you buy with at least three layers to them, but I shouldn't have been. It turned out beautifully!


Here it is in progress. You can get a better idea of what my coat hanger base looked like.


And here it is finished. I was surprised at how nice it turned out!


And here you can see what it looks like on the wall.

This wreath used a total of two yards of fabric, so it wasn't expensive to make.

I have a few more projects to share from decorating this room, so stay tuned!

posted from Bloggeroid

God cares about shoes.

If you've been around for awhile, you may remember the story about the Vermont Teddy Bears that my kids wanted when we were on vacation once. We just didn't have the money for them, but God provided one for each of my kids from thrift stores - the exact fur color and everything! (I'll try to insert a link to the post, but if I can't figure out how to do that from this blogging app, you may have to search for it on the blog. It's from May 11, 2011. It's still here and is one of my favorite blog posts of all time.)

Well, my kids have grown up a bit since then. My son turned 12 this year, and he's turning his attention to things like tennis shoes these days. Around his birthday this year, he told us he'd like some expensive Nike shoes that he had seen another teen wearing. Since my husband was unemployed at the time, we just couldn't justify $80 for a pair of shoes when he already had a pair that he could fit. And because of his age, he sometimes seems to outgrow a shoe size in one month. We promised to keep an eye out at thrift stores and buy him a pair if we found them there. We looked and looked ... and were still looking when his birthday rolled around. He had even mentioned that he'd love to have those shoes for his birthday present (a sure sign that he's not a little kid anymore).

I probably don't need to tell you that I had prayed many times, asking God to prove Himself to my son at this time in his life. Yes, my son remembers the Vermont Teddy Bears (we still have them), but I wanted another reminder for him that God hears him when he gets older, too.

Well, we still hadn't found the shoes when his birthday came. On the morning of his birthday, I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus. (I later found out that it was the flu, but I didn't know it then.) My husband had work to do for someone, so I was the only parent around during the day. Since we homeschool, I have the liberty of taking the day off when it's my kids' birthdays, and we always do. We do something special. I asked my son if he'd like to go to the local thrift store to look for shoes, and he said that he would. I felt a bit better later in the morning, so we went.

Now I have to tell you that my son takes after me. He was a bit skeptical that we were ever going to find those shoes because he knew as well as we did that they weren't a real *need* - just a *want*. Even at his age, he knows that we don't always get what we want.

But we went straight to the shoe section that morning and found not one, not two, but *THREE* pair of those shoes - all different colors - *IN HIS SIZE* and in beautiful condition!! It's just like God to answer my prayer over and above what I ever could have expected. He even got to pick what color he wanted!



Needless to say, my son was grinning from ear to ear when we left the thrift store that morning. God had come through just in time and given him a special birthday present. I made sure he understood that God had provided even more than we had asked for this time.

I knew it would encourage other people, so I wanted to share it here.

posted from Bloggeroid